English punctuation The comma the question mark and

English punctuation The comma, the question mark and the exclamation mark

Punctuation marks are symbols that indicate the structure and organization of written language, as well as intonation and pauses to be observed when reading aloud. In written English, punctuation is vital to disambiguate the meaning of sentences.

Example: "woman, without her man, is nothing" (emphasizing the importance of men) and "woman: without her, man is nothing" (emphasizing the importance of women) have greatly different meanings, as do "eats shoots and leaves" (to mean "consumes plant growths") and "eats, shoots and leaves" (to mean "eats firstly, fires a weapon secondly, and leaves the scene thirdly").

Comm a Exclam ation mark ! Colon : , Semic olon ; Full stop. Hyphen s and dashes Punctu ating speech “” Apostr ophe ‘ Parent hesis () Questi on mark ?

In general, the comma is used where ambiguity might otherwise arise, to indicate an interpretation of the text such that the words immediately before and after the comma are less closely or exclusively linked in the associated grammatical structure than they might be otherwise. The comma may be used to perform a number of functions in English writing Comma

Commas are used to join items in lists. In English, a comma may or may not be used before the final conjunction (and, or, nor) in a list of more than two elements. In lists

Use of serial comma disambiguating: q. I spoke to the boys, Sam and Tom. – could be either the boys and Sam and Tom (I spoke to more than three people) or the boys, who are Sam and Tom (I spoke to two people) q. I spoke to the boys, Sam, and Tom. – must be the boys and Sam and Tom (I spoke to more than three people)

Omission of serial comma disambiguating: q. I thank my mother, Anne Smith, and Thomas. – could be either my mother and Anne Smith and Thomas (three people) or my mother, who is Anne Smith, and Thomas (two people) q. I thank my mother, Anne Smith and Thomas. – The writer is thanking three people: the writer's mother and Anne Smith (who is not the writer's mother) and Thomas.

Commas are often used to separate clauses. In English, a comma is generally used to separate a dependent clause from the independent clause if the dependent clause comes first: After I fed the cat, I brushed my clothes after I fed the cat. A relative clause takes commas if it is nonrestrictive, as in I cut down all the trees, which were over six feet tall. (Without the comma, this would mean that only those trees over six feet tall were cut down. ) Separation of clauses

Some style guides prescribe that two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) must be separated by a comma placed before the conjunction.

In the following sentences, where the second clause is independent (because it can stand alone as a sentence), the comma is considered by those guides to be necessary: Mary walked to the party, but she was unable to walk home. Designer clothes are silly, and I can't afford them anyway. Don't push that button, or twelve tons of high explosives will go off right under our feet!

In the following sentences, where the second half of the sentence is not an independent clause (it cannot stand alone), those guides prescribe that the comma be omitted (Note that it is dependent upon the subject's presence in the sentence's second phrase): Mary walked to the party but was unable to walk home. I think designer clothes are silly and can't afford them anyway. Don't push that button or set off the twelve tons of high explosives sitting right under our feet.

Commas are always used to set off certain adverbs at the beginning of a sentence, including however, in fact, therefore, nevertheless, moreover, furthermore, and still. Therefore, a comma would be appropriate in this sentence. Nevertheless, I will not use one. If these adverbs appear in the middle of a sentence, they are followed by a comma and preceded by a semicolon. In this sentence, furthermore, commas would also be called for. This sentence is similar; however, a semicolon is necessary as well. Using commas to offset certain adverbs is optional, including then, so, yet, instead, and too (meaning also). So, that's it for this rule. or So that's it for this rule. A comma would be appropriate in this sentence, too. or A comma would be appropriate in this sentence too. Certain Adverbs

Commas are often used to enclose parenthetical words and phrases within a sentence (i. e. , information that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence). Such phrases are both preceded and followed by a comma, unless that would result in a doubling of punctuation marks, or the parenthetical is at the start or end of the sentence. The following are examples of types of parenthetical phrases: Parenthetical Phrases

Introductory phrase: Once upon a time, my father ate a muffin. Interjection: My father ate the muffin, gosh darn it! Aside: My father, if you don’t mind me telling you this, ate the muffin. Appositive: My father, a jaded and bitter man, ate the muffin. Absolute phrase: My father, his eyes flashing with rage, ate the muffin. Free modifier: My father, chewing with unbridled fury, ate the muffin. Resumptive modifier: My father ate the muffin, a muffin which no man had yet chewed. Summative modifier: My father ate the muffin, a feat which no man had attempted.

A comma is used to separate coordinate adjectives; that is, adjectives that directly and equally modify the following noun. Adjectives are considered coordinate if the meaning would be the same if their order were reversed or if and were placed between them. For example: The dull, incessant droning but the cute little cottage. The devious lazy red frog suggests there are lazy red frogs (one of which is devious), while the devious, lazy red frog does not carry this connotation. Between adjectives

A comma is used to set off quoted material that is the grammatical object of an active verb of speaking or writing, as in Mr. Kershner says, "You should know how to use a comma. " Quotations that follow and support an assertion should be set off by a colon rather than a comma. Before quates

Commas are used when writing names that are presented surname first: Smith, John. They are also used before many titles that follow a name: John Smith, Ph. D. In names

When a date is written as a month followed by a day followed by a year, a comma separates the day from the year: December 19, 1941 When the day precedes the month, the month name separates the numeric day and year, so commas are not necessary to separate them: "The Raid on Alexandria was carried out on 19 December 1941. " In dates

Commas are used to separate parts of geographical references, such as city and state (Dallas, Texas) or city and country (Kampala, Uganda) In geographical name

A sentence ending in an exclamation mark may be an exclamation (such as "Wow!", "Boo!"), or an imperative ("Stop!"), or may indicate astonishment: "They were the footprints of a gigantic duck!" Exclamation marks are occasionally placed mid-sentence with a function similar to a comma, for dramatic effect, although this usage is obsolescent: "On the walk, oh! there was a frightful noise. ” Informally, exclamation marks may be repeated for additional emphasis ("That's great!!!"), but this practice is generally considered unacceptable in formal prose Exclamation mark

The exclamation mark is sometimes used in conjunction with the question mark. This can be in protest or astonishment ("Out of all places, the squatter-camp? !")

The question mark (? ; also known as an interrogation point, interrogation mark, question point, query or eroteme), is a punctuation mark that replaces the full stop (period) at the end of an interrogative sentence in English and many other languages. Question mark